‘Madison’ Episode 4: “Tomorrow Goes Fine”

In Madisonthere are two types of flashbacks. First, there are the glimpses we see of Stacy and Preston’s life together, which ooze wit and conversational ease, and echo the love they’ve shared over nearly 40 years of marriage. Then there are these other, Montana-centric dips in the past, where the main characters are water, land, and fish — the environment that has provided comfort to Preston and Paul for more than 20 years. And in those flashbacks, peace and quiet are as important as what the Clyburn brothers do or say to each other.

“You’re the only person who never asked me,” said Paul. “Don’t change that today.” Preston will let the gravity of the place do the talking, as long as his brother desires Yellowstone cutthroat trout, hatching caddis, swinging river otters, and their sturdy riverside camp to shelter him from his thoughts. Because on this day, in this flashback, Paul remembers his late wife Melissa on her birthday. And it’s hard. When they said “Till death do us part,” he meant his death, and it didn’t work that way.

The way the pacing and camera work of Madison you live in Preston and Paul, whenever we join them in one of these riverside updates, it’s as if the series wants – as Preston once said – to stay there forever. But in the meantime, Stacy’s best friend Liliana Weeks has arrived from New York, with notes from the Clyburns’ trust attorneys, a large investment portfolio, houses in the Hamptons, and all the instructions Preston put in his will. When Liliana says she wants to be buried in Montana, Stacy smiles. He knows the place. But Liliana still has questions about her friend. Owning river property and burying her husband are one thing. But would Stacy really leave New York to live in Montana?

Deputy Van calls Abby, and her face falls when she realizes that he’s not asking her about dates. As Paul flew to the Forest Service, his little Cessna had a flight data recorder, and Stacy, her daughters, and Liliana went to a meeting at the police station to listen. We’re going back to pre-crash times. Paul’s request for the “SWAP” severe weather app, instructions for climbing from Big Sky, and Preston’s voice on the recording. “Jesus! Fuck, Paul!” Screaming, crashing into the cockpit. Then… “STACY!” We’ve seen and heard it all, back in the first episode of Madison. But when Stacy hears that her husband only thinks about her, it makes her very sad.

After driving back in silence, Stacy stepped into the river, still wearing her expensive clothes. It calls out to the sky. (“You chose this!”) Suddenly Deputy Van is standing on the bank of the river. He tells Stacy that he did all that screaming, too, back when his wife was killed. He scolded her for being careless about her life, because it was her life, too. Until death, they said. But he is still there. Stacy may want to hate Preston to death, but her life will go on. And despite the difficulty of hearing his last words, “The time is coming when you will wonder.”

While in the locker room, Van and Abby try to flirt and kiss again. But distractions, from noisy daughters to Mom’s in-laws and friends, make them feel like fewer children. Van invites Abby on a river float, however, since Montana “doesn’t have all that” – NYC hangouts like art galleries and bars in SoHo. And Abby brings Russell and Paige, because they also need a distraction from all the misery. Insert a couple of standard jokes here about Russell’s soft-spoken independent arms that don’t match the definition of a Montana lawman/river guide.

Was it “’til death do us part” when Abby married Dallas at age 20, when she was already pregnant with Bridgette? He doesn’t say anything, which makes his New York-born conviction clash with the weight of marriage here, and its importance to Deputy Van. He says that his wife was the love of his life, which means that if they are going to continue playing, Abby has a lot to live up to. (Van: “What are the chances I get two?”) And where they leave off isn’t strong, either, because it feels like Abby is making excuses for herself.

It was a day of crying in the river for loss, which is hidden by the things that tell us that the water is normal. When Bridgette learns to ride barrels on a horse – and apparently she has her own horse? And in the Olympics? It’s a fascinating Sheridan-O-Verse we’ll never get back to – and Abby interrupts her first Montana love with questions about What It All Means, the real reason this family came to this western paradise is now at hand. As everyone gathered to eat wild-caught trout, at a place Preston and Paul loved, Stacy made an announcement. “Tomorrow, we bury them.” Then? ‘Till death do us part, indeed.

Crazy Prime season 1 Episode 4 Madison (“Tomorrow Is Goodbye”):

• Abby didn’t ask for Stacy’s advice, but: “Set your hooks on that man.” However, her daughter thinks she has no chance. Van’s vice, he says, is “good sport.”

• Stacy added Preston’s zippered and pocketed vest to her worn Simms fishing cap that she inherited, and she consulted a journal/guide for best practices when attaching the tip to the leader. Macy reads from her grandfather’s handwritten instructions while Stacy practices acting.

• “Today I quickly denied.” But Liliana insists to Stacy that her grief is not premeditated. It has no disease. It is not accessible to medical treatment. He must deal with the loss of the partner he met when they were young. And Liliana will stay with her bff in the river as long as needed.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a writer based in Chicago. A veteran of other weekly channels, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.